Milkshakes and French Fries
by StarvingWriterMaeve
Summary: It was supposed to be the perfect first date. Sequel to Chocolate Pudding and Oreos.


**A/N: **I was encouraged to write this from a review I got (Thanks angie93!) and I hope this is as good as the first one.**  
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**Milkshakes and French Fries**

Helga's eyes opened suddenly as she threw her body forwards. _Darn alarm, _she thought as she glanced at her clock: 6:48 a.m. She quickly hit the SNOOZE button on her alarm and threw her covers to the floor.

The sun was out, shining brightly after the horrible storm that hit Hillwood last night. The sidewalks still had puddles, but the roads weren't flooded anymore.

Helga couldn't hide her smile as she got ready for school. She knew that yesterday was almost too good to be true. She and Arnold had kissed for what felt like a lifetime. They only stopped because they heard a tap on the window. It was Arnold's grandpa coming to "rescue him". They waved goodbye then floated home.

Helga wasn't sure about what to think of the situation. She was in shock, unsure if it really happened, but also ecstatic because she was certain that it really did happen! But a small part of her mind told her to not get her hopes up. A nagging voice growing in her head told her not to read too much into it and keep things as usual. Her heart suddenly felt heavy as she walked to school. _What if it was just some crazy, heat of the moment, once in a lifetime occurrence? What if he never feels like same way I do? _Her smile completely disappeared and the scowl returned as she walked to her locker. She ignored the stares and whispers about her striped pink hair and focused on getting her books.

Arnold couldn't stop smiling. He woke up smiling, ate breakfast and got dressed for school smiling, he even walked to Gerald's house, still smiling like an idiot. His jaw ached but he didn't care. He felt great, like a thousand questions were suddenly answered at once. All of his fourth grade doubt disappeared. He liked Helga. And he knew she wasn't over him.

"Dude, you're creeping me out. Why are you smiling?" Gerald's question brought Arnold mind off the feel of Helga's lips to nothingness.

"What?"

Gerald rolled his eyes, "I'll ask again. Why are you smiling like that?"

His cheeks flushed, "No reason."

"Come on, Arnold. Tell me! I'm your best friend. We don't keep secrets."

"I know we don't, Gerald. But this is one thing I really think you'd. . ." Arnold struggled to find the word, "freak out about."

This didn't discourage Gerald. "Oh, Arnold, you have to tell me now! I need to know what's so important!"

Arnold hesitated. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do about Helga. He wanted to ask her out, but he didn't know what to say, or how to even act around her anymore. He felt anxious and nervous, but excited and hopeful. He forgot what it felt like to have feelings for someone.

"This stays between us, okay? And I'm only telling you because I need your expertise." Gerald smirked and nodded, encouraging Arnold to continue. "Yesterday afternoon, I ended up eating dinner and hanging out with. . ."

"_With_?" Gerald's eyes lit up with excitement.

"With Helga."

Gerald's jaw hit the floor. "Helga? _Helga G. Pataki_? What happened? Did she beat you up or something?"

"No, nothing like that. She was nice, and sweet and," Arnold smiled again, "we kissed."

"_You kissed_? Woah, woah, woah, freeze Arnold!" Arnold stopped walking. "You and Helga kissed? _Why_? Did you get struck by lightning or something?"

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you. You're freaking out."

"Of course I am! You. . . and _Helga! _She picked on you every day of your life! She calls you Football Head every day and tricks you when she gets the chance! She's mean and nasty and horrible-"

"Gerald, stop it! I really like her."

Gerald started laughing hysterically. "Oh, Arnold. You had me going there for a second. You're such a kidder."

"I'm being serious, Gerald. I really like Helga and want to ask her out." That silenced Gerald.

"You're serious?"

"Three thousand percent," Arnold replied as he walked up the steps to the school.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold." Gerald's smiled widened as his eyes set on Helga at her locker. He elbowed his best friend in the ribs and laughed. Gerald walked over to her. "What a lovely day it is today, don't you agree Miss Pataki?"

"Did you take happy pills or something, Geraldo?" she shot back.

"No, no, just being friendly," he shot a look towards Arnold who hesitantly stepped forwards.

Helga tried to keep a straight face as Arnold appeared at his side. "What's up with him?" Helga asked Arnold.

"I think he hit his head a little hard this morning," Wolfgang interrupted, slamming Gerald into Helga's locker door, shutting it with a loud _slam!_

"Back off, Wolfgang!" she snapped again.

"Look, I just came to apologize for yesterday. That was mean of me to get clay in your pretty pink hair," he touched the ends of it and Helga smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me," she spat through clenched teeth.

"Did you see that Ed? She hit me! That's one time too many, _girl_." Ed laughed as Wolfgang picked Helga up off the floor again.

Arnold grabbed onto his arm. "Let her go, Wolfgang!"

"Not this time, loser!"

Gerald jumped to his feet too, trying to stop Wolfgang as well.

"What is this?" The four teens looked to see their Principal standing in the hallway, glaring at them.

"He started it," the three juniors yelled and pointed at Wolfgang. Edmund took this moment to run away. Wolfgang dropped Helga back to the floor.

"All four of you in my office. _Now_." He threw open the office door and motioned for Wolfgang to come inside first.

The three sat on the bench in silence, watching their Principal's shadow pace back and forth across the door.

"I'm sorry about getting you in trouble, Football Head."

Gerald stopped for a moment, wondering if he had heard Helga right. He shrugged, assuming he had. It was weird for him, he'd never heard Helga apologize for anything.

"It was bound to happen sometime," Arnold laughed.

Helga's smiled returned as she watched Arnold set his gaze on the floor in front of him. The three sat quietly until Wolfgang threw the door open and hurried out of the room. Their Principal pointed at Gerald, who nodded and stepped inside. Arnold's stomach twisted. He was alone with Helga. This was his chance.

_Don't look at him, _Helga thought as her gaze set on his.

"So, I uh. . wanted to talk to you, Helga."

_Don't panic, _she thought before smiling. She rested her arms behind her head and tipped her head against the wall. She was trying to looked relaxed ant not at all anxious. "Sure, go ahead, Football Head."

Arnold cleared his throat as he tried to gather his words. He'd never been so nervous before. He really had no reason to be, it was Helga. He'd known her practically his whole life.

"It's about. . . uhm. . . what happened yesterday." Helga tried to keep her face solid, heart slowing slightly.

She wanted to say, _"Oh, why, you want to continue?" _but she bit her tongue. Her cheeks flushed as Arnold slowly slid closer to her. Instead of speaking, Helga could only mange a nod.

"Oh, well I had a good time," he paused. _What kind of thing is that to say? A really stupid thing, _he answered himself. He felt his cheeks growing red as he struggled to think of something to say. This was extremely embarrassing. He was surprised at how embarrassed he was. It was _Helga. . . _his old bullywho he was suddenly crazy about.

Helga laughed. "You're not good at this talking thing, are you Football Head?"

Arnold tried to laugh, "Apparently not as good as I used to be."

Helga dropped her arms and leaned forwards, elbows on her knees. "You were saying something about yesterday?" A smile returned to both their faces.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if-"

"Oh, welcome back Miss Pataki," their Principal interrupted Arnold. He resisted the urge to scream at the top of his lungs and fell back into the bench, feeling defeated. Helga walked into the Principal's office, smiling as he yelled "You're going to get a week's detention!"

Arnold put his head in his hands. "I hate this," he whined.

"He's not so scary. Since I didn't have a record, he let me go with a warning and a really boring speech about behaving," Gerald laughed.

"No, I don't care about the punishment. I was _this close_," he held his fingers less than an inch apart, "to asking Helga out."

"Oh."

"I've never been so tongue tied before, Gerald. What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to relax, dude. If you like her, it should be easy."

"I don't know, Gerald. You should've seen me, I was a freaking mess."

"You're sweating a lot, dude." Gerald rested his hand on his best friends shoulder, "_Man, _you must be crazy about her." Arnold could only nod. "I know I should be happy for you, but I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that it's Helga."

"Gerald," Arnold protested.

"Hey, you can count on me, okay? I'll get you that date with Helga for tonight. I promise." Gerald crossed his fingers over his heart and smiled. He stepped back as Helga quickly left the office. Arnold stood in the doorway, watching Helga watch away. Gerald quickly followed her. There was nothing left Arnold could do. He just had to wait.

"Helga, wait up!"

"What, Tall Hair Boy?" she snapped.

"Listen, this is serious. I know you and I don't really like each other very much-"

Helga laughed, "That's an understatement."

"-anyways, Arnold told me about your little-weird-rain-storm-thing-whatever that happened yesterday. And, for whatever reason beyond my comprehension, he really, really likes you."

Helga stopped walking, heart in her throat. "Oh, yeah, right," she forced a laugh.

"I told you this is serious. He was trying to ask you out earlier but got interrupted. He wants to take you out tonight."

_Oh, my god! Ahhh! Arnold wants to take me out! _"This isn't a joke, right?"

"Believe me, if this was a joke I would be laughing right now. I look out for my friends, and Arnold is my best friend. Trust me, Helga, he really likes you."

"Alright, I get you, okay? Tell him to pick me up at my house at seven."

Gerald's smile grew before he walked away. "Alright, my boys got a date!"

Helga's body began shaking as she made her way to homeroom. This wasn't real. She had a _date_ with _Arnold _tonight!

"Phoebe! Oh. My. God! This is amazing. I have so much to tell you!" Helga grabbed onto her best friend's arm and squeezed tightly.

"What?" she asked, excitement growing.

"Guess who I have a date with tonight?"

Phoebe was quiet for a second before she saw the look on her best friend's face. "Shut up!"

"Yes, it's true." She lowered her voice, "Arnold's picking me later tonight!"

Phoebe hugged her best friend. "That's incredible!"

Helga quickly spilled out the details of what happened yesterday, ending just before the bell rang for first period.

Helga felt like she was on Cloud Nine all day. She couldn't even remember what any of her teachers talked about, what homework she had or even what she ate for lunch. She was too happy to care about anything.

Arnold met Helga's eyes from across the cafeteria. He felt heat rise to his cheeks when she smiled at him. He winked before returning to his conversation with other classmates, but he wasn't really listening. His eyes continued to travel back to Helga. _It's really happening. I have a date with Helga! _

Seven p.m. couldn't come fast enough.

After school, Phoebe walked Helga home and the two tried to pick Hela's outfit. They had no idea where she was going, but she didn't care.

The doorbell rang and Phoebe hugged her tightly, "Have fun. You better call me after."

"Of course," Helga replied before opening the door.

Arnold couldn't help but let his jaw drop slightly. "Wow, you look incredible." His eyes wandered up and down Helga, admiring her curves in her flower skirt and white v-neck.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself," she laughed as she walked down her front steps.

_I can't believe this is happening, _Helga continued to smile.

"What's so funny?"

She stopped smiling. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking. . . slightly in shock, actually."

"Why?"

"Honestly? I didn't think you'd actually show up," she confessed. She bit her lip and shrugged, "I mean, I was pretty mean to you up until. . .yesterday."

"So? I always knew you were nice, Helga. You can't fool me," he laughed as he pulled Helga into Slausen's Ice Cream Parlor. He continued to hold Helga's hand as they walked to a booth towards the back of the shop.

Helga laughed, "What is this?" Sitting on the table was a small basket of fries and a chocolate milkshake with two straws.

"You told me about your weird dessert combination, so I'll share mine. Milkshakes and french fries." He reluctantly let go of her hand and sat down across from her in the booth. "Try it," he laughed as he dunked a fry into their shake. Helga hesitantly picked up a fry and followed his lead.

"Not bad," she smiled.

Arnold tried to initiate a conversation, but he could only concentrate on the fact that his knee was touching hers. What had come over him? He was acting like a love-crazy fool.

Helga didn't even notice that they weren't talking. She was so focused on staring at Arnold, and controlling her breathing, that nothing else mattered. Helga felt the butterflies wings beat faster in her stomach as Arnold slid in next to her. A smile was glued to his face as he said, "You have some whipped cream. . ." before kissing it off.

Helga slowly pulled back, "Are you going to say something before every time we kiss?"

He blushed, "No. I just figured I'd need a better reason to kiss you," he mumbled before kissing her again.

_H-A!-H-A!_

"Willikers! I'll be hog tied, is that-?"

"Arnold and Helga!" Rhonda shrieked as she pushed the gang into the ice cream shop. Through the years, the gang had gone their separate ways, but always made sure to spend time together. Gerald had told Rhonda that Arnold wasn't feeling well and Phoebe also lied for Helga. Never in a million years would she have put two and two together.

Phoebe's smile faded when she realized what everyone was staring at. Gerald reassuringly held her hand, "It'll be okay, right?"

"Not with Helga," she responded quickly, fearing the worst.

Rhonda flipped her long, black curly hair out of her eyes before turning to face her old classmates. Stinky, Sid and Harold had all grown up physically, but definitely not in mind. The three boys continued to snicker.

Lila smiled, "I think it's adorable that they're dating." Nadine, Sheena and Eugene smiled and quietly agreed with Lila. Brainy shrugged, but he wasn't completely surprised.

"I. . . I just don't believe it!" Rhonda exclaimed. "Did you know about this?" She pointed her finger accusingly at Gerald and Phoebe.

"Well," Phoebe hesitated.

"Yes," Gerald nodded. "But tonight's their first date. Apparently, some big things went down yesterday."

"They're not separating," Sid brought everyone's attention back to the new couple.

Helga suddenly pulled back from Arnold. "Oh, my God." She thought her eyes were going to bug out of her head.

"What?" Arnold turned around. "Oh, crap." Arnold quickly stood up out of the booth. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing, just doing our usual make out with Helga. Oh, now, wait a second. That's _you_!" Rhonda stepped forwards. The rest of their old gang followed quietly behind.

"It's not like that, Rhonda," Arnold began.

"Oh, so we didn't just see one of our good friends kissing his bully?" Sid asked.

"No, no, you guys saw right," Helga rested her head against her hand, elbow out on the table. She stared straight ahead, mind still reeling from the fact she and Arnold had just been kissing. She felt like she'd never believe it.

"So, what up with this?" Harold asked.

"Well, it was our first date," Arnold smiled.

"Aww," the girls smiled.

The guys still stared at Arnold puzzled.

"You know it's Helga, right?"

"_Yes, _Harold, he knows it's me," Helga rolled her eyes.

"I still don't believe it!" Rhonda sat down across from Helga in the booth. "This is huge! I need to know all about it!"

"There's not much to tell, Rhon."

"Oh, come on, you picked on him for years." An understanding smile crossed her face, "You picked on him for years!"

"Uh, Rhonda, you just said that," Stinky pointed out.

"Guys! He-llo! Helga's liked Arnold for _years_!It's so obvious now! Duh, Earth to Rhonda!" Rhonda tapped her head as Helga tried to hide her blushing cheeks. "And Arnold's liked her too! I mean, who would take her kind of verbal abuse?"

Gerald and Phoebe stood together in silence, not sure what to say. Everyone else had figured it all out. Well, Rhonda did.

"What is she talking about?" Harold whined.

"They've been in love with each other since like fourth grade!" Rhonda exclaimed. The group nodded.

Arnold and Helga smiled at each other, afraid to really say anything.

"Oh, oh, I am so sorry for ruining your date. We'll leave," Rhonda quickly jumped out of the booth, dragging everyone with her.

"Well. . . that was interesting," Arnold mused before sitting beside Helga.

"Some first date, huh, Football Head?"

Arnold laughed as he took Helga's hand and began walking back towards her house. "Well, it was amazing up until a certain gossiping, rich, socialite came and crashed it," he laughed as he interlaced their fingers. Helga matched his stride as they walked, laughing. Helga rested her head against his shoulder and Arnold pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

Both of their nerves disappeared as they stood next to each other, smiling brightly. Arnold thought that it felt _right _to have Helga standing beside him, holding his hand.

Arnold chuckled, "Then she left, and the date turned out to be really good."

Helga hesitantly climbed the steps to her house. "So, you thinking you have a shot at a second one?" _Well, duh, of course he will! _Helga laughed as Arnold wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'd like to think so."

"Tell you what, Football Head," she wrapped her arms around his neck, "promise our next date we don't have any party crashers and we'll have a great second date."

"That sounds like a promise I'll keep."

"So, it's a date," Helga kissed him deeply before slowly pulling away. Arnold watched as she stood before him, blonde hair shining with the setting sun and eyes sparkling like stars. Neither could wait for their second date.


End file.
